1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to manipulative robots, and, more particularly, to electrical cables and/or fluid hoses used to transmit electrical and/or fluid power in a manipulative robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
A manipulative robot typically includes multiple mechanical components which move relative to each other and to a stationary structure (such as a floor) to which the robot is mounted. Such a manipulative robot also may include a movable arm which is attached to a body and carries one or more tools, positioning jaws, sensors, etc. For example, the robot arm may carry a Tugesten Insert Gas (TIG) welder which welds under the presence of an inert gas. It is thus necessary to provide both electrical power and the inert gas to the end of the robot arm for the TIG welding operation. Moreover, it may be desirable to transport cooling fluid through the welding tooling at the end of the robot arm to prevent the tooling from rising above a certain temperature.
It is known to provide power transmitting elongate elements for the purpose of transmitting electrical and/or fluid power to the end of a robot arm, as necessary. The elongate elements may be in the form of electrical cables and/or fluid hoses which are attached to the outside of the body and/or arm of the manipulative robot. The electrical cables and/or fluid hoses are usually carried by rings and/or clamps which are mounted on the body and/or arm of the robot. Relative movement between the rings or clamps and the electrical cables and/or fluid hoses may occur during movement of the manipulative robot. Moreover, relative movement may occur between the electrical cables and/or fluid hoses and the floor to which the robot is mounted. The relative movement between the electrical cables and/or fluid hoses and some other physical structure usually results in wear of the electrical cables and/or fluid hoses. Such wear may in turn result in electrical shorts and/or fluid leaks, which obviously are not desirable.
What is needed in the art is an assembly that adds a higher level of protection to the particularly exposed areas of an electrical cable or fluid hose. Also needed is a device that protects the areas that have already become worn or damaged on an electrical cable or fluid hose.